Jesus gathered them together and then sent them out in pairs.
After He ascended and the Pentecost experience launched the collection of believers to a new phase of existence an episode took place. In it, a pair of the apostles encountered a beggar who was lame and they healed him in the name of Jesus Christ. One of the pair did the talking, but the other guy that was there wasn’t just there for decoration.
Later still, as disciples scattered to various areas of the Roman Empire, news came of exciting developments in a locality, so one guy was sent to check it out. As he checked it out, he linked up with a guy who had a rather miraculous come-to-Jesus experience that radically turned him into a follower of Jesus. As the two worked in the locality as part of the leadership, these two were specifically called to carry out a work set for them to go beyond that locality into other areas.
Now if you have a familiarity with the scripture you might know the names of the individuals and localities that I’m referring to. You might also be wondering why I don’t just state the names and carry on with it.
The reason for not mentioning the names of the individuals or localities is not because they’re not important. They are. What’s of greater importance, though, is to see how important it clearly was for there to be two working in partnership for Kingdom purposes. Not a husband and wife team – although they’re important. No – two people paired by God for Kingdom assignments in given times.
It’s reassuring to look at that pattern and that method. It’s reassuring because that pattern can be seen in the approach to sending out spies into the promised land earlier on. It can be seen in other episodes across scripture. And it can then be considered today. As God is a relational God who engages with us, so He displays and expresses His relational nature by getting us to work alongside another – at least one other.
It’s reassuring because it gives hope to know that you’re not alone in your Kingdom assignment. As a Kingdom assignment designed to show the glory of a relational God, there is implicitly something about it that can be displayed in the partnership approach.
Some of my best experiences of following Jesus has come about through moments of engagement in the partnership approach. In His kindness, God brings me alongside a man of faith. We do exploits together. I learn from him and get the opportunity to support him and he in turn then supports me as I contribute whatever I have been given to contribute. we are not doing it alone. We operate together and see God do amazing things.
It’s also a reminder that the life of following Jesus is not a passive, solo, self-indulgent call. It is about building and being built to be living stones built to display the wonders and glory of God actively.
We can read about Peter and John in Jerusalem; Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and beyond; Joshua and Caleb on the brink of the Promised Land; David and Jonathan in the kingdom of Israel. We can read about these and other folks, but perhaps we should read them acknowledging the real possibility that God is calling you alongside that other to do Kingdom business today where you’re at.
Maybe Jesus was onto something with that partnership approach.
(Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 